Collaborations In Gaming Collide In February And March 2024

Disclaimer: 
This is a listicle that features the trailer for one collaboration that contains elements of horror, including unsettling imagery, one moment of brutal violence involving a stabbing/shooting and one depiction of execution by hanging. Another featured trailer contains strong violence, including blood, gore and one unsettlingly graphic stabbing. Reader discretion is advised. 
 
Partnerships can be quite compelling, making two organisations validate one another. It would be advised to not take them for granted and ensure that there will be a full-on agreement before going ahead as Flora and Merryweather from Sleeping Beauty had an argument on what colour my current manicure should be, resulting in it being both pink AND blue [11]. You may recall some effective collaborations in gaming in 2023, such as Barbie’s special guest appearance in an event in Candy Crush Saga that helped promote her live-action adventure to the real world and Bumblebee from the Transformers franchise becoming a racer in Rocket League [38] [52]. Others were...quite bizarre to say the least, most notably Peter Griffin from Family Guy in Fortnite: Battle Royale and the crossover between Cult of the Lamb and Don’t Starve [24] [50]. There are more collaborations in gaming to consider this year after the launch of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ participation in three different gameplay genres of Fortnite [51]. Furthermore, I shall elaborate on these partnerships before we wish our inklings and octolings the best of luck in painting new stages with new weapons in new gear during the Spring 2024 Fresh Season in Splatoon 3 [35].

I have mentioned that overreliance on third-party participants can affect overall creativity but there have been many that seem to have been done right and at least more made sense than mediocre experiments like Tom and Jerry: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory [48] [50] [51]. Four new collaborations seem to be new examples of that and shall be explained along the way just after the launch of the expansion of Splatoon 3: Expansion Pass known as “Side Order” [34]. [48]

Lady Gaga’s special guest appearance in a brand-new season of Fortnite Festival’s first [13] [14] [15]! The first season began with the likes of The Weeknd and Eminem in December 2023 [50]. And wow! A second season already? As uninspired celebrity endorsements can be if they seem to be done in a…less than effective way with the negative reception of “Lisa Goes Gaga”, the final episode of the twenty-second season of The Simpsons being a notable example [39] [42], this new event in Fortnite Festival seems more passable with vibrant graphics as the talented and sensational Lady Gaga herself is seen performing on stage during the gameplay that is inspired by the Guitar Hero series [13] [50]. A list of songs by Gaga to perform includes:

•       “Born This Way” [13]
•       “Rain On Me (Ft. Ariana Grande)” [13]
•       “Just Dance (Ft. Colby O’Donis)” [13]
•       “Bloody Mary” [13]

I am also quite curious about how well can Gaga pull off the role of Harley Quinn in a sequel to Joker that will cause chaos in cinemas this October and I do not doubt that there will be many comparisons between her performance and how Margot Robbie handled the role before she became the flawless live-action incarnation of Barbie [3] [4] [6] [19] [20] [43] [44]. 

I’m gonna play some...Fortnite! 
Season Two, I’m ready for more [14]! 
Gaga will sing in...Fortnite... [15]
Play to try and earn the best score [13]! 
P-p-p-play some! P-p-p-play some! 
P-p-p-play some Fortnite [25]! [14]

If you are more of a rock music fan and get a thrill out of interactive survival horror, consider the members of Iron Maiden’s deal with Dead By Daylight right up your spooky alley [9]. New skins for Survivor consist of T-shirts like the one you may find in a merchandise shop at a gig and what my fiancé would wear. The Legendary Outfits for The Oni, The Deathslinger and The Dredge are gruesome and the pharaoh attire for The Doctor is quite like something from Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris [46]. Even though a celebrity endorsement can, as previously mentioned, be quite uninspired, the event in Dead By Daylight in honour of Iron Maiden’s legacy as a rock band is quite a fitting one as many of the band’s songs are ideal for a Halloween concert and Dead By Daylight is a survival horror game that allows a player to be either one of the four victims...or the one villain yearning to slay them [9]. I still suspect that the younger and more emotionally vulnerable incarnation of Lara Croft from the Survivor timeline of the Tomb Raider franchise could appear in a future Dead By Daylight event as a Survivor [50], even after the remaster of the original trilogy from the second half of the ‘90s that was launched on Ms. Croft’s birthday [37]. 

Dead By Daylight! 
Dead By Daylight! 
Survivors hide in fear as the lurking killer’s near! 
Dead By Daylight! 
Dead By Daylight! 
Who else will make a guest appearance if they dare [22]? [9]

Aside from two celebrity endorsements, there will be a new suit pack to purchase for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 this March [21] [29]. The sets of the attire for Peter Parker and Miles Morales as the Spider-Men are designed by two artists from Gameheads, a non-profit organisation that provides support for young people who are passionate about technology but do not feel represented enough in the industry. As an expert in lived experience of being autistic who is aware of how underrepresented and endangered autistic women can feel [26], especially if they consider themselves gamers [4] [40], I am always up for helping the underrepresented feel a lot more represented in today’s society. The two colourful suits nicknamed “Fly Suit” and “Fresh Suit” appear to be in the style of fashion a ‘90s kid would dream of and the pack will also include ten new stickers and two new frames for Photo Mode [29]. As cute as the Shadow the Hedgehog suit is for Classic Sonic as free DLC for Sonic Superstars that came out over a week ago [41], the upcoming suit pack for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 shall provide some cool new attire for each Spider-Man two weeks before my birthday [29].

Ironically enough, these looks for Peter Parker and Miles Morales as the Spider-Men will be released after the launch of the revival of the UK version of Celebrity Big Brother [23] [29]. Quite a nice logo for a revival that is as colourful and patterned as Peter’s Fly Suit and Miles’ Fresh Suit…but looks can be deceiving if nothing is learned from the past [10] [21] [23]. But you know what is not deceiving, especially in the present and near future? A competent association with supporting an underrepresented crowd of people passionate about technology [29]. If you consider yourself a fan of the arachnid duo, be sure to check out the first issue of Spectacular Spider-Man the day before these two suits and so on become available to purchase for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 [28] [29]. [21]

Now that we have seen a partnership between an organisation for something I fully support and Marvel’s most iconic character [21] [29], will a comic book star from DC be in one too? Well, Peacemaker, otherwise known as “Christopher “Chris” Smith” shall be a competitor in Mortal Kombat 1 [7]. You may recall Peacemaker’s appearance as a secondary antagonist in The Suicide Squad and his role as the protagonist of his own spin-off series played by John Cena [8] [44]. Of course, this is not the first time a character from DC has been a battler in the Mortal Kombat series as you may also recall Joker’s special guest appearance in Mortal Kombat 11 [7] [31]. As you can see in the trailer, his attacks include firing bullets with his pistol and thwacking with his shield [7]. And do not forget about Eagly, his companion who is indeed an eagle and can be summoned for a quite special attack, as brutal as it is. The fatality Peacemaker commits near the end of the trailer is insane! So much for being referred to as “Peacemaker”! As tough and patriotic as he can be [44], Mr. Smith will become a playable character in Mortal Kombat 1 the day before two new suits for each Spider-Man can be purchased [7] [29].

Coincidentally enough, both John Cena and Margot Robbie played the roles of two DC characters and two residents of Barbie Land and both Barbie: The Movie and The Suicide Squad are distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures [3] [4] [5] [44]. As for Peacemaker’s guest appearance in Mortal Kombat 1, the latest entry of the Mortal Kombat series published by Warner Bros. Games, early access to it will be available in the premium edition or the Kombat Pack in a few days [7]. And keep an eye out for Janet Cage later in March…but not literally! [7]

It sure is crazy how the second season of Fortnite Festival began with Lady Gaga and an event in Dead By Daylight featuring Iron Maiden began to rock in a horrifying way on the same day after the announcement of Gameheads’ partnership with Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 and during the announcement of Peacemaker becoming a playable character in Mortal Kombat 1 [7] [9] [14] [29]. How the later seasons of The Simpsons relied a bit too heavily on celebrity guest appearances may be an example of how uninspired a celebrity endorsement can be if it is not handled well [17] [53], but if you are a fan of a certain artist’s music and a certain video game franchise, the two of them combined could leave some swell impact on you [7] [9] [50]. Aside from these partnerships, the forthcoming remaster of Epic Mickey for the Nintendo Switch, the PlayStation 4, the PlayStation 5, and Steam seems like a rebrushed rehash featuring enriched graphics [16] [32] [36] [45]. The battle between blue and pink may be on during the 65th anniversary of Sleeping Beauty [1] [11], but hopefully, there can be new Dreamhouses and Mojo Dojo Casa Houses for the Barbies and Ken who adore blue over pink in Barbie Land as Barbie: The Movie continues to be victorious [5] [47] [49]. Speaking of preferences, which of these four discussed collaborations would you consider the most impactful [7] [9] [14] [29], fellow gamer?

Aside from intriguing crossovers, there ought to be plenty of room for properties to keep excelling on their own accords as I am excited for Princess Peach Showtime! launching on the day after my birthday and yearning to see the next episode of Helluva Boss titled “Full Moon” later this year [18] [33]. And speaking of excelling on your own accords, here is my advice to a former fellow gamer and writer I would give them if they had never lashed out at me and cut ties with me over an opinion eight years ago; refrain from writing any more hit pieces and publish and market a novella that could be a compilation of old but swell fanfictions of theirs converted into a new property, much like how a Twilight fanfiction titled “Master of the Universe” was converted into the Fifty Shades trilogy [2], going by a pen name on the way to redemption [2]. Lastly, I hope some of my fellow hazbeans have a blast at this year’s LVL UP EXPO in Las Vegas this April [27] [30]! [33]

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